In Between The Lines
by HungerGamesFan11
Summary: Cassidy Amherst is in a bit of a interesting situation. She's in a coma. And the only way to awaken from it-Ally Dawson. The quiet girl, the nerd, the unknown. With the help of Kira, the ghostly girl mentor of the In-Between, and being allowed to walk around her life as a ghost that only Ally can see, Cassidy has to get Ally to trust and forgive her, so she can make it out-alive.
1. Written Are These Stories

**(So this story will be a bit AU, usually I stick to the show, but this story is a bit more sad/dramatic, so I think a different setting would be good, like a place with alternating seasons, and a place more gray and dreary at times, my own state comes to my mind, so Wisconsin, it is. Yes, Liv & Maddie/Sonny With A Chance are from actual places that I've seen; my aunt lived in Appleton for, I think, 5 years, and I've driven through Stevens Point before, going up north for vacation. Thank you for all of the birthday wishes, and I was sick earlier this week, so ICAISA (PJ & AA Crossover) will be updated tomorrow, because I'm playing catch-up right now. I promise, guys, there's going to be another cliffhanger! MWAHAHA! Oh, and longer chapter! I'm now up to my personal best: 2,233 words. As Laura Marano would say, woot woot! And I deleted G&GM, I just wasn't good with that story. I hope this one is better though!**)

"Cassidy," a caramel-skinned girl with wavy black hair said. 'Wow,' Cassidy thought, am I hallucinating yet? I mean, all I remember is that stupid staircase at school, and Dallas, and the sirens, and now…'

"I can hear you, you know. I can hear all your thoughts; you can't speak here. It's easier to communicate this way. My name is Kira, and you're in the In-Between. It's a medium, between awake and asleep."

'So,' Cassidy chose her words carefully, she wasn't used to being heard in her thoughts. 'I'm not dead; I'm not alive either?"

"You're in a coma. After that nasty fall on the stairwell, you were knocked unconscious. It took you a while to come here, even with you being stable in the hospital."

'What are you exactly?'

"A Guide for the people who come here; trust me, you haven't been the first to come here, and you certainly won't be the last, but you're here for a purpose: you have to correct your mistakes."

'What mistakes?'

"Past ones, the ones buried, the ones small, and big." Kira's face was hollow. "People are sent here to revise what they've done, because if they don't, they'll die. Here probably, after they can't finish what they've tried to fix over and over. But it's a hard, sometimes horrible process for many. They can't bear to face people they've hurt."

'Who have I hurt? How do they die?' Cassidy lifted her hands to her pale face, ghostly light flickering over her golden hair, and her pale dress that she hadn't even noticed she was wearing. It was off white, and long, brushing Cassidy's feet as she stood there.

"They die, because they're still in their comas." Kira replied. "You have hurt many people, but you have corrected those throughout your earthly life, or they have forgiven you for your actions. But one sticks out like a sore thumb. Her name is Ally Dawson."

Cassidy's face hardened at the sound of the name. She swallowed hard, and looked Kira straight in the eye. 'I can do this,' she thought, 'but how? If I don't have a body, how do I help her?'

"Exactly!" Kira smiled. "This is where the fun comes in! You'll be a spirit Guide, and you have to get the person to trust you and forgive you—while helping them achieve what they can't do on their own."

'So, I'll be having an out-of-body experience? And what do I help them achieve?' Cassidy asked.

"You help them achieve what you ruined for them in your earthly time, and yes, if you want to call your experience as a Guide that, it works!"

'Why are you so happy about your job?' Cassidy asked.

"Because I want to help you complete what I couldn't once." Kira's face crumpled in sadness again, and Cassidy wondered what Kira had done, and couldn't fix herself.

* * *

Ally had never seen a person die before. She had heard about dying, she had read about it, she knew she had to go through it once. But until this morning, she had never thought she would be so rocked by it. She had been on the bench outside Marino, waiting for the early January skies to show some signs of blue, but it stayed a swirled pattern of gray and off-white; winter wasn't going to change yet. Wisconsin was the same, as usual. But then it happened, the sickening crash of flesh on concrete, as the crowd slowed to a stop, and surged around a single body, one with golden blonde hair, streaming out of a yellow knit cap, and twisted limbs sticking out from the crumpled figure. Ally didn't particularly like Cassidy, ever since high school, when everything changed, but at that moment, time was frozen, like everything was in high-definition, and all Ally could see was the wounded girl on the pavement below. Cassidy's boyfriend, Dallas, ran to her side. She wasn't moving, it wasn't that Ally expected her to; it was the realization that Cassidy might be dead, and seeing Dallas—her once-crush—almost break inside, it was enough to hurt Ally to the point of numb action. She took out her flip phone—she was clumsy, okay—and dialed the number of all emergencies. 911. "Hello, emergency medical services. What's your problem?"

"Hi, my name is Ally Dawson. I'm a student at Marino High School, and a girl just fell down several flights of concrete stairs outside. Her name is Cassidy Amherst, and I'm afraid she's not moving. She seems to be unconscious, and her body is very injured."

"Have you checked her pulse?" the woman asked carefully. Ally wondered how people could do this as a job.

"I'm too far away to get close; there's a crowd."

"Shout then; have somebody do it."

Ally lifted the silver device from her ear, and then screamed as loud as she could at Dallas and the others nearest to her. "Check her pulse!" She saw Dallas gently turn Cassidy over, and press his tanned fingers—even in winter—to Cassidy's pale throat. She waited for the response; it seemed that everyone around them suddenly sucked in a breath.

"She's breathing!" Dallas exhaled relief.

"Yes!" Ally cheered into the phone. "She's breathing!"

"An ambulance is headed your way, and should be there shortly." Ally hadn't realized she still had held her breath until the sirens were heard.

* * *

By first period, it had seemed everyone had heard about Cassidy, and how Ally Dawson, the quiet nerd, had probably saved her life. Ally had been fine with being the mousey unknown.

Being stared at in every class was uncomfortable, more than usual. Principal Cooper called her down to the office, and congratulated her on taking charge of the situation, and other stuff like that, but the only thing was: Ally wasn't sure if anyone remembered was the reason she helped was Cassidy, stuck in the hospital, unconscious, hooked up with tubes and machines. 'Did anyone remember that part of it?' Ally thought, or was she imagining everything. This was turning out like a horrible, dramatic movie. Ally desperately needed to talk to Trish, stat.

"So, what are you writing today, Miss Dawson?" Ally looked up at the blonde haired, brown-eyed face. She had been scribbling some new song lyrics in her book. Usually she didn't write at school; tough luck if she lost it and somebody else found it. Her ankles were crossed under her desk; his fingers tapped on the edges of the hardtop plastic. "Hello? Earth to Dawson!"

Ally's face snapped back to reality. "Oh, sorry, Austin, I was just writing some lyrics. I just thought I saw something—hey, can you drive me to the hospital? I want to check on Cassidy." She closed the cover of her book hard and tight, as if she knew someone was reading it over her shoulder. Her light brown hair shifted slightly, by an imaginary breeze. Ally grabbed her bag, and fumbled to put it over her shoulder.

"Oh, yeah. I heard about that. I can give you a ride, but I have to make it back before lunch. Detention is today, and Gonzalez will flip if I skip another."

"Lunch, okay, got it."

They were halfway out in the parking lot; Ally in her white knit hat, and dark blue peacoat, and Austin in his leather jacket and white t-shirt, before anyone said another word. Austin grabbed Ally's shoulder, and spun her around to face him. "Ally," he asked, "are you sure you want to do this? I mean, you're Ally Dawson. You never skip school—ever."

Ally looked down at her light brown boots, as the wind picked up, and blew her hair into her face. She didn't bother to brush it away. Ally looked back up in Austin's eyes. She looked ghostly as she said, "I need to know for myself." No one said another word until they reached the hospital. Austin waited in the car. Ally didn't mind. She needed to do this on her own.

"Name?" the receptionist asked.

"Ally Dawson. I'm here to see Cassidy Amherst. She arrived this morning, by ambulance."

"Oh, I'm sorry, honey." The receptionist absently flipped through records. "Her family has requested no visitors from anyone, but family—unless you are?" The woman looked up at Ally, studying her face with cautious eyes.

"No, but I'm the person that helped her. I called 911. Please, I just need to see her. I need to know if she's alright." Ally pleaded. Why did she care so much about someone who took her life, and crushed it with a fingertip?

"It's okay." A woman steeped closer to the desk. "She can see Cassidy."

"But ma'am—" The receptionist raised her voice. "I have strict orders—"

The woman put her hand up to shush the woman. "I'm Cassidy's mother. It's okay if she does, and if she comes back, let her straight up to Cass's room, no exceptions. This girl saved my daughter's life today."

Ally looked closer at the woman as they took an elevator quietly up to the fourth floor. She noticed Cassidy's eyes, and nose, although the hair was a dark brown, not showing any signs of aging. Dyed, probably. As they reached Cassidy's door, Cassidy's mother paused. "I'm Aubrey, by the way. I'm going to wait out here, so you can have some privacy." Ally just nodded, still mute as she grabbed the silver door handle, and passed into the room. Shutting the door, Ally saw that the room was a light pea green, and if it weren't for the single fluorescent light above them, the room would probably be very dark. Her eyes dodged the most obvious thing in there. They wouldn't sit still on Cassidy's body, still limp; unmoving.

Instead she decided to sing. Ally pulled out her songbook, and looked at the words on a worn, yellow page, but she had, so long ago, already memorized.

_"You're a ghost,_

_You're a shadow,_

_Of what you used to be._

_You sit here in this dark room,_

_Begging and pleading,_

_Bartering your way to try and get out,_

_But it's too late now,_

_Yours truly, _

_You're forgotten._

_You sit in the windowsill, _

_At night, watching_

_The streetlights flicker and the cars race by,_

_Through that thin glass,_

_No one looks back at you,_

_The children play ball in the field,_

_You wish to go back to the good old days._

_When your love sent you flowers,_

_And they bloomed the next day,_

_Or when your father spun you around,_

_And the skies never looked more blue._

_You sit here in this dark room,_

_Begging and pleading,_

_Bartering your way to try and get out,_

_But it's too late now,_

_Yours truly, _

_You're forgotten._

_And when the candles burn out,_

_And when the stars all fade,_

_I'll be here singing along,_

_And when your voice starts to crack,_

_I'll be the one picking up the pieces. _

_Because_

_You sit here in this dark room,_

_Begging and pleading,_

_Bartering your way to try and get out,_

_But it's too late now,_

_Yours truly, _

_You're forgotten._

**[1]**

Ally finished the song on a lingering note. She didn't intend the song to be for Cassidy, but it just worked out that way. Unfortunately, this girl was Ally's new inspiration, whether she liked it or not. She crossed to the bed, and put her hand on top of Cassidy's. What she didn't intend for was to see a ghost.

"Thank you." Cassidy said, "for the song. It was beautiful." And then, at a drop of a hat, she vanished.

**[1]- I wrote that song. Well, just the lyrics. I call it Forgotten. Do not plagiarise. Thanks.**

**Reviews would be awesome. **


	2. Written On My Stone

**(This story's rating has been changed to T, because this chapter deals with sexuality, and suicide, more adult themes than what I usually write, but this is a sad story, and it's very dramatic, so the characters need to be dealing with issues that are not usually mentioned in the show. Thanks for reading. Until next time! Word count: 2,399 words.)**

Ally ran from the room, and didn't stop until she reached Austin's car. She jumped in, and closed the door securely behind her. "Can we go please—now?" she finally coughed out. She had to be hallucinating; it had to something with the trauma, or something. Ally remembered reading something on the Internet once, about people being able to see "ghosts" of people who had gotten hurt, but seriously, it was _Cassidy Amherst. _She was the girl who ruined Ally's life, right at the beginning of high school, the summer before 9th grade. When Andie was still alive.

Austin didn't start the car. Instead, he reached over, and put his hand over hers. Ally felt the reaction from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. "Is she okay?" he asked softly. Of course he would ask that. He had dated Cassidy in 9th grade; they'd broken up last year, during winter break. Ally hadn't asked, she hadn't really cared, because Austin had started talking to her again, that summer. He had come to her house, and tapped on the window, like he used to do the summer before. She was surprised; everything changed after Andie died. Austin apologized, and said that Cassidy had "literally turned into a Martian. He didn't know her anymore." Austin made her laugh, and they talked a bit more, between the sides of the window screen, and leaning on the sill. Then he left, and they resumed their friendship, on shaky legs, no less. Having English together was a plus for Ally, he was the only one in there that would stop and talk to her on a daily basis. She just thought he was being nice, just trying to help their friendship again.

"I have to go," Ally finally said, she couldn't hang around, and talk about Cassidy all day. She grabbed her bag, swung it over one shoulder, and cracked open the car door.

"Don't you want me to drive you?" Austin lightly grabbed her shoulder, holding her back.

"No. I rather walk; I need to clear my head. I'm going home anyways." Ally finally clambered out, and shut the door. Austin rolled down the window.

"I'll tell the teachers you weren't feeling well, and I took you home." He sounded somber, even sad as he looked at her.

"Thanks." Ally smiled at him, and turned to leave. She heard Austin mutter something under his breath, but didn't bother to stick around. She had her own problems to deal with. She walked onto the main road, and turned onto a side street, as soon as she saw Austin's car pull away.

"All right! I know you're here! Come out, so I can see you!" Ally said, hopefully loud enough, so Cassidy could hear her. Slowly, but surely, Cassidy appeared, as if stuck somewhere else that was hard to leave. She looked no different than when she was real—was that the right word for it? "Tell me, why are you haunting me?"

"I'm not haunting you. I merely just require your help." Cassidy could have said it with a British accent, and Ally wouldn't have cared. "I'm stuck."

"Are you now?" Ally said. "Why do you need my help?"

"I'm stuck, because you haven't forgiven me for my mistakes. And until you decide to trust me again, I'm stuck in this coma." Cassidy acted if that part of it was inferred.

"Well, be prepared to be there for several, many, long, lonely years. What you did to my family is purely _unforgivable_." Ally spit at her. "Andie loved you. And she died because of you."

"But I might die if you don't!" Cassidy whined; her mouth twisted into a pout. Her lovely face looked pitiful. Ally avoided her eyes, and instead looked at the grayish sidewalk, still pockmarked with wet snow, just beginning to melt.

"That would be payment enough." Ally's eyes were filled with fire. "You didn't even come to her funeral! You never apologized, and plus—" Ally stopped talking. Tears were beginning to stream down her cheeks.

"What?" Cassidy yelled at her. "Speak up! Just tell me! Dear gosh, use your voice for once!"

She just made Ally cry harder, who sunk to the curb in defeat, and covered her face with her palms, sobbing.

Cassidy's voice grew soft as she sat herself next to Ally. "Can I show you something?"

Ally didn't respond, but she stopped crying, and removed her hands from her face. It was puffy, and stained pink from tears. Cassidy grabbed Ally's hand, which to Ally's dismay, felt surprisingly solid…and real. She closed her eyes for effect, and then she felt grass below, which was crazy, because she was on concrete, by a road. She finally snapped open her eyes in disbelief, to a scene she replayed in her mind so many times before, but only really lived once, two years ago.

Cassidy looked around, at the world she had brought from memory. The summer after eighth grade, when Ally was still her friend, when Andie was still here, when Cassidy began to question herself. "Ally! Catch!" Cassidy heard herself yell. She was younger then, but still tan, and still with golden hair streaming down her back, catching the sunlight as she ran. She threw a sweatshirt with all her might to a girl with brown straight hair feet away. "Go!" she shouted, before collapsing on the ground, laughing hard. Her feet were bare; she had lost her flipflops in the chase. "Before Austin figures out where we are!" They had taken Austin's "lucky" hockey sweatshirt from his room, and they had run two blocks to Ally's house, escaping Austin's wrath on the way there. Cassidy remembered Ally had a huge backyard, but she had forgotten it was basically a field, in a land of suburbia.

Ally watched herself run away with the sweatshirt. She looked happy, probably happier than she had felt in the last two years. And then she saw her. "Ally!" It was Andie. Her beautiful cousin was running toward her. "Give me the sweatshirt!" Her cousin grabbed the sweatshirt, and screamed as Austin appeared on the scene.

"There you guys are!" he shouted. "Give me my sweatshirt!" He chased after Andie, laughing all the way. They all knew that he was joking; he just was living in the moment, like Austin usually did. The now-Ally laughed herself. Austin just did that to her. He made her laugh, he made her smile, he was everything in between. She was suddenly confused as Austin looked directly at her, as if he could see her looking at them.

"Hey, Mrs. Dawson!" he finally said. Her mother was behind her; of course he wasn't looking at her!

"Hello, Austin. I see the Summer Kids are back together again. The younger versions of Ally, and Cassidy shared a glance.

"Mom!" Ally said. "Can you please stop calling us that?"

"Why?" Penny replied, "It's obvious that you guys only really get to talk in the summer, and then during school, have other friends. But you guys will always be the Summer Kids to me."

"It's not fair that Trish and Dez had to leave the state this summer!" Ally explained. "Then our group would really be here as a whole!"

"Ally, stop whining! Come on, your mom has cookies, and you gave me a workout. It's only fair that you stop, so I can eat some!" Austin grabbed Ally's wrist, and spun her away from her mom, taking her across the lawn, laughing all the way again.

Now it was Andie's turn to share a glance with Cassidy. "You know they both have crushes on each other, right?" Luckily, Mrs. Dawson had left by then, leaving the cookies on the back porch.

"Of course!" Cassidy nodded. "They make it so obvious, but then at other times, they act like it can't be true."

"Sometimes I think there's nobody out there for me that's right." Andie said, suddenly serious, leaning back on the grass, stretching her arms. "I feel confused about who I am. Boys just don't seem right to me."

"They never seem right to anyone." Cassidy patted her shoulder. "It's okay; there's someone for everyone."

"Would it be crazy if I said—" Andie stopped, halting.

"What?" Cassidy asked.

"If I said I thought you were right." Andie finally whispered.

Cassidy stared at her for a moment. "You have feelings for me?" she finally asked.

"There's something wrong with me, isn't there? I'm not normal." Andie looked like she was about to cry. "I wasn't sure about it, but now I am. I'm gay. I like girls. I've been wondering all summer, Cassidy."

"Everyone wonders, Andie. Even me. You're smart, pretty, and everything else. Anybody, even a girl, would go out with you. I know it."

"Even you?" Andie looked at her.

"Maybe." Cassidy said. "Maybe."

Ally had never saw this before. She was so caught up in her own moment, she didn't even see this happen. "So you kissed, and then you led her on." Her tone was bitter. "You could have just told her you weren't like that, that you weren't ready. She would have understood. She could have handled it. But you took it, and blew it out of control. You ignored her; you turned your back on someone who needed you to be her friend. Cassidy, you helped ruin her. You told everyone she was a freak, you told everyone she was coming onto you. Everyone taunted her for what she was, and you never felt sorry for it."

"But that's where you're wrong." Cassidy cut in. "I did feel bad. I attended the funeral with Dallas. I sat in the back, with a hood covering my face. I am ashamed for what I did."

"Then you just have put your hood down. Let people see, let people know that you were the one who she mentioned in her note, and that you were sorry." Ally yelled again. "If you were her friend, you would have stopped her. You would have taken the pills from her hand, and tossed them out the window. If you were her friend, you would have been there for her."

"I was her friend—once." Cassidy replied honestly. "But not a day goes by that I don't think about her. I see her in you."

"Then prove it." Ally finally said.

"I can't." Cassidy said back.

"Then let people see you for the horrible person you truly are." Ally shot back. "Take me home."

No one else said another word until they returned to the present. "Is time back when it was?" Ally asked with restraint.

"Yes, sort of. Only this time, go back to the parking lot. Austin will be there, waiting for you. You will go in the car, and you will let him drive you home, because he broke up with me, because of you. He loves you." Cassidy explained. "Take my word for it. Just don't forgive me yet."

Ally swung her bag onto her shoulder. "You know I won't."

"Good. I have a few more secrets to share." Cassidy answered. "Now I got to go. And so do you."

"Cassidy, wait." Ally turned around on her heel. "Where do you go when you're not with me?"

"I go to the In-Between. It's a medium, between awake and asleep." Cassidy said, repeating Kira's words. "I promise, I'll see you soon." And she was gone.

Ally raced to the car in the parking lot, carefully skirting around the edges of the property, to make it look she came from the hospital entrance. "Hey!" Austin brightened, at the sight of her running toward his car. "Ally! Is everything okay?"

"I wish it was." Ally said. She was still processing everything that Cassidy had told her—the confession, Austin's "crush" on her—was it true? She was crazy, but Cassidy didn't seem to joke about that.

"It must be hard for you, with Andie, and—" Austin was cut off. Ally had flung herself into his arms.

"Thank you. For being here." Ally whispered. Carefully, she realized that Austin's arms were already wrapped around her.

"I will always be there for you." He whispered back. "Always."

"How did it go?" Kira asked. She was sitting on a four-poster bed, white as a cloud. This was Cassidy's "haven" while in the In-Between—basically a bedroom, with an adjoining bathroom, and a kitchen. Outside was the Looking Glass, where Guides and coma-people first meet, and where people could socialize with others, and it's also where the people headed to be able to contact with the outside world.

Cassidy flopped down next to her. "Well, I think we finally formed a connection."

"Good. Now you can figure out what your next step is."

Cassidy smiled. "I already have one—or should I say, someone."

"Austin?"

"That's the one."

"Well, I approve, and he already seems to have a crush on Ally. But I do have one question."

"Ask away." Cassidy nodded.

"Did you have feelings for Andie?" Kira's face grew serious.

After a while, Cassidy finally answered. "Yes, in a way. But she's gone now, and I've moved on." Cassidy gestured to the floor, as if it would give her explanation more meaning.

"I think you should tell Ally that."

"Someday. Someday." Cassidy replied. Kira didn't bother to carry on the conversation any longer. She was already asleep, when she suddenly cried out. "Elliot!" she screamed, scaring Cassidy out of her wits.

"Kira?" she asked.


	3. The Colors I Can't Change

**(Okay, guys, this chapter deals with eating disorders, and self-harm. Elliot is also introduced, and there is more backstory to Kira than we all realized! Really good chapter, so here we go! Word count: 2,690 words. A special thanks to Sapphire (Guest): Thanks for the interesting review! It's only once in a while when someone actually gives you an honest criticism of your story, so thanks. And hopefully my story becomes more ****promising!)**

Cassidy looked at Kira, hollow. Was it true that people could die—again, in the afterlife? "Kira!" she shouted again, and finally, after several minutes, Kira's eyes fluttered open, lashes moving, and blinking several times before she sat up, looking back at Cassidy.

"Yes?" she replied weakly.

"I told you something; now you tell me. Who's Elliot?"

"It's a kind of long story." Kira said, evading the question.

"We all know I've got time." Cassidy reached over, and rubbed her shoulder. "Now get to it."

Kira took a breath, and in a tiny voice, she began to explain. "Elliot was my boyfriend, back on the earthly plain. He was the one who never forgave me—for what I did."

"What did you do? Did you cheat on him? Get jealous? Break up with him?" Cassidy cut in, oddly curious about this stranger's life. She suddenly felt a bit warm—not that it showed, wasn't she a ghost? —and stopped because she realized that she had done the same with Austin. She had been jealous of Ally, and stole him away from her, and then at Winter Formal, kissed Dallas instead of Austin; she didn't break up with him though, that was the other way around. Not like it had mattered. Clearly the breakup had been mutual. Uh oh. She had forgotten that Kira could hear her thoughts.

Kira examined Cassidy's face more carefully than before. "Wow. You really did make this girl's life a living hell."

Now it was her turn not to answer. "So what did you do?"

Kira turned serious again, like usual, when she told something big. "I had an eating disorder."

"Yeah, so?" Cassidy urged her to go on.

"He didn't like it—Elliot, I mean. He told me I was beautiful every day, but then there was the pressure. The clothing size was too large, the fashion magazines, and their models were all pretty, and then the food just got more fattening. Some days, I stopped eating at all. And then I started eating myself sick. I threw up for hours at a time. Elliot got mad. He said I needed help, and I refused. So that night, I locked myself in the bathroom, looked myself in the mirror, and put the blade to my skin. He climbed through a window to get to me. I almost bled myself to death if it wasn't for Elliot. I was unconscious, by the time we got to the hospital. The doctors said I was almost dead, and Elliot didn't believe them, because he had already seen me like this before. I came to him when I could, but I didn't trust me—as either form. He said if I continued to be like what I had been before, he couldn't love me anymore. I needed help, and I knew it. The next day, I tried to come to him; to tell him that I realized that I needed him to help him. But I couldn't. I've tried several times; I can't appear to him on the plane anymore. Elliot had severed part of our emotional connection by turning his back on me. I can talk to him through his dreams, but he won't listen, and I don't blame him. It's been two years; too long. He's moved on with his life, and I need to move on with mine, even if I'm still in a coma, and stuck here for the rest of my life. I don't care. I just want to help other people now, like you. I became a Guide to save myself, and now it's up to you to save your own life. Help can only do so much. The rest is up to you."

"How old is Elliot?" Cassidy asked.

"He was 15, probably 18 by now, if it's been March yet."

"Nope, it's still January, so he's 17. Where does he live?"  
"Not far from you actually. I used to live in this town called Burning Plains.**[1]** It was named by some Native Americans, like a thousand or two years ago."

"I've heard about it. Native History class teaches you a lot."

"You actually paid attention in class?" Kira looked shocked for a moment, and then quickly recovered, her face morphing into a mask of blankness, like an unpainted canvas.

"Yeah, why is that so hard to believe?" Cassidy asked, confused.

"Well, due to your thoughts, it's sort of hard to believe about you."

"You shouldn't be judging me, Kira. You're my mentor, my Guide." Cassidy said quietly.

"You shouldn't be judging people in general either, Miss Amherst." Kira responded.

"I know, I know. I shouldn't. But you know what? I don't regret it." Cassidy said, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Everyone does it, and it shouldn't be me who gets punished for it!"

"Unfortunately, your fate's against you. We were always meant to be here, because one person can only change your destiny: you. And if you stay on that path, it's never going to revise itself. But, Cassidy, I don't think you realize the big picture. YOU NEED TO FIND YOUR MISTAKES, AND YOUR OWN FLAWS, BEFORE YOU TRY JUDGING ANYBODY ELSE, BECAUSE YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S DONE IT THE MOST. And you need to fix it. I can't do that for you. I'm just here to offer support, and advice, and that's all I can give you now."

"But aren't I doing well? I mean, I've made a connection." Cassidy started to wonder how annoying she was being to Kira.

"Yes, and that makes you promising, because now you can actually talk to me."

"Oh!" Cassidy clapped her hands over her mouth. She hadn't even realized before that she was talking to Kira. She thought it was all in her mind. "So, making a stronger bond with Ally helped me talk to you here?"

"You better believe it." Kira crossed to Cassidy's door, and opened it. Before she stepped out, she looked back at Cassidy. "Now figure it out, and then get back to me." Kira left without any goodbye, and Cassidy didn't care. She had Ally to get back to on the earthly plane. She flung open her door, and ran as fast as she could to the Looking Glass. Time to find Elliot.

* * *

"Ally!" Cassidy shouted. Of course it was she. Who else could get into her house at 2:00 in the morning? "I need you to help me."

"Can you wait until 6 in the morning, at least?" Ally struggled to sit up in bed. She peered into the darkness of her room. "It's way too early."

"I need to track someone down. For a friend I know in the In-Between. She's actually kind of my mentor there. It's really important. Her boyfriend, Elliot—before she was in the coma—lives in Burning Plains, and you need to go find him. She can't get through to him anymore, so we need your help—well, I do. She doesn't exactly know what I'm doing, just yet." Cassidy pleaded with Ally.

"Give me two hours. I'll meet you outside. No exceptions." Ally drowsily said.

"Fine." Cassidy grudgingly answered, and then disappeared.

Ally responded by falling back on the pillow, and pulling her covers back over her head, groaning from lack of sleep in the last two minutes.

* * *

Four hours later, Ally was showered, clothed, and ready to hit the road. She was telling her mom in a note that she was headed to Burning Plains for research on a school project, about Native American history in Wisconsin, and to text or call her if she needed anything. Before leaving, Ally stopped by the back door to look at her backyard. She could see the past right in front of her; the four laughing and running around with each other, and the smell of freshly cut grass and sunshine mixed together bunched around her, in a sort of mist.

"You're welcome." A quite familiar voice said. "I felt like your trip to memory backyard was taking too long—so can we go now?" Ally, seeing no end to Cassidy's endless whining, and nagging for the moment, sighed.

"I guess. Get in the car—wait, that's hilarious!" Ally cracked up; Cassidy just looked at her. "You're a ghost—you don't need to ride in a car!"

"Well, I do, if I want to talk to you!" Cassidy rolled her eyes, as she opened the car door—yep, totally not with her mind.

Ally chuckled one last time to her self, before starting up the car, and rolling out of the driveway. As they drove down the highway, she admired the orange, and yellow sunrise as it came up, and rose higher and higher above them. Cassidy looked bored as Ally pointed it out. In fact, she didn't say much on the way there. Ally didn't mind. Silence was golden, when it came to Cassidy Amherst.

"Ally?" Cassidy finally asked, her elbow propped against the car window, "why do you carry around the songbook all the time?"

Ally knew Cassidy knew exactly why, but she answered anyway. "Because it was Andie's first, and when she died, I kept it, because when I go places, and I see all these amazing things, or I get inspiration, I write it down, or use it in a song, because I know Andie's somewhere, either up there in the sky, or even right next to me, and she's watching, and reading everything I write in my songbook, because in a way, I am carrying out her last wishes.

"Did she ever write those wishes down?" Cassidy stupidly asked, but by the end of the sentence, she knew. Andie had written everything in that book; probably even that stupid, sad suicide note, which Cassidy had to face down every single day, because she had forced Andie Dawson to the end. And in those last lines, she had written, _'Cass, I know you'll hear this someday. I still love you. I still hate you. You are the one who forced me to this line. There is no going back, there is no coming back, after I cross this line, and I sincerely hope you never forget anything. ~Andie'_

Cassidy did never actually read the note, until one day, she found it stuffed inside one of her locker vents, and she almost fell over. It was directly before the funeral. She had a feeling then that it had been Ally, or maybe Austin, to get revenge on her, but after all this In-Between trouble, Cassidy was truly not into being sentimental. But sometimes she just had to face the music.

"I put that in your locker," Ally whispered; she had heard Cassidy through her thoughts, "I was angry. I was grieving. I wanted revenge. You know, besides Trish, Andie was my best friend. She was family—and you know what, she was more in so many ways. Now I can only imagine so many things about how her life would have gone without you, and they also end the same. With Andie being the one alive—and you being the one dead."

"I honestly can't blame you, and I don't regret you saying that. But I can say that I feel ashamed for Andie's death. I didn't mean to cross that line."

"No one really means to." Ally said sadly.

* * *

By the end of the trip, they were both silent again; no one really felt like talking after that. "Let's go." Ally suddenly turned onto a side street, and maneuvered the car into a parking space. She stuffed a few quarters into the silver meter on the sidewalk, and headed toward Main Street, always a few steps ahead of Cassidy, who didn't bother to try and catch up. All she needed to do was watch. She had actually seen something when she grabbed Kira's shoulder to wake her up; it was a light brown-haired boy, with deep chocolate eyes, wearing a football jersey. It had to be Elliot; was there someone else would Kira dream about?

Then Cassidy saw him; he was walking along the street, hands jammed in his pockets, wearing a light red fleece, and looked as if he was without a care in the world. Like Kira had never happened, and he hadn't turned his back on her. Then he looked at Ally, straight at her, and blinked. Cassidy looked at Ally, waiting for a reaction. Finally, she tentatively waved at him. Elliot was definitely surprised; caught off guard, he crossed the street, and joined Ally where she was standing. Cassidy stopped in her tracks, like a deer framed in headlights.

The first thing he said was unexpected: "In-Between. You have one. I can sense it."

"Excuse me?" Ally asked. "What's your name?"

"Elliot. You have someone who's in a coma—but as a spirit following you around." He flushed, clearly he thought Ally was thinking that he was crazy. Cassidy knew if he had approached her like that, he would have definitely gotten the weirdo look.

"Uh, yeah. I know. Her name is Cassidy. She's kind of a person, too, you know." Ally replied.

"Come with me." Elliot was suddenly pulling Ally toward an old-looking building that was definitely a five on the creepy factor, according to Cassidy. Ally wasn't used to suddenly being jerked around by a sort-of stranger, but if this would somehow get Cassidy to be less nagging at 2 am in the morning, so be it. Elliot led her up a stairwell inside; the plump woman with the round glasses sitting at the plastic desk seemed to realize who he was, so Ally guessed they were in a hospital. Is this were Kira's body lay still, hooked up with monitors, tubes, and wires, clinging to life? She thought it was a safe bet.

And here she was. Ally was completely, absolutely right. The room smelled like sour milk; the curtains were heavy and dark, and it looked somewhat old-fashioned, but lo and behold, it was a hospital bed, and in it, a caramel-skinned, dark-haired girl named Kira.

Cassidy couldn't believe it either. But what she heard next was even more of a shocker. "You need to help me." Elliot desperately pleaded with Ally. "Her family is about to take her off life support, and she could die. I need her back, I need to see her. I can sense the connection between her, and Cassidy. Please. Help me. Kira can't survive this."

* * *

"What do you mean?" Ally asked. "She can't die! She's still alive!"

Cassidy answered somberly. "That's exactly it. That's how the coma-people die. Once they're taken off life support, their minds go with the physical body—and if this means Kira could die—and only after two years—it means I don't have very long either. I guess you could get your wish after all." And with that, once again, like always, Cassidy Amherst disappeared. Only this time, Ally wished she didn't.

**[1]- I don't own Burning Plains, if there is such a town somewhere.**

**Reviews, and criticism are appreciated.**


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